Marcin Gortat hoping to return this season - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat (foot) is going to have his walking boot removed at the end of the week and hopes to play in the final two or three games of the season.

Marcin Gortat still in boot, doubtful to play - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat (foot) is still in a walking boot and is doubtful to play again this season.

Marcin Gortat: (Foot) Loses the Cast

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Marcin Gortat: Gortat (foot) has rid himself of his cast but is still donning a walking boot, the Arizona Republic reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Marcin Gortat (foot) remains in walking boot - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat (foot) is still in a walking boot, but he's ditched the cast that was protecting his injury.

Suns expected to start Markieff Morris at PF - Markieff Morris | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Markieff Morris is expected to slide into the starting lineup at power forward in the wake of Marcin Gortat's foot injury.

Mostly NBA Notes: Al Horford blowing up, Stephen Curry on fire and Dirk Nowitzki’s reemergence

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

Previously one of the more durable players in the league, Al Horford destroyed fantasy owners last season when a torn pectoral muscle ended his year after just 11 games played. However, he’s currently averaging career highs in ppg (17.4), rpg (10.0), spg (1.0) and FG% (55.7). Horford has been a top-20 fantasy player this season despite shooting a career-low 60.7 percent at the line, which is nowhere near his career mark of 73.7, so it’s safe to expect improvement there down the stretch. Among those in the top-five in double-doubles this season, only Horford and Dwight Howard also average at least 1.0 spg and 1.0 bpg. Horford’s Usage Rate (20.59) isn’t well above league average, but it’s a career high,

Marcin Gortat: (Foot) Out 3-To-4 Weeks

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Marcin Gortat: Gortat (foot) is expected to miss 3-to-4 weeks after an MRI revealed a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Marcin Gortat: (Foot) Out Three-To-Four Weeks

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Marcin Gortat: Gortat (foot) is expected to miss three-to-four weeks after an MRI revealed a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Marcin Gortat: (Foot) Likely Out Three-To-Four Weeks

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Marcin Gortat: Gortat (foot) is expected to miss three-to-four weeks after an MRI revealed a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Marcin Gortat: (Foot) Possibly Out Rest Of Season

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Marcin Gortat: Gortat (foot) is expected to miss three-to-four weeks after an MRI revealed a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Marcin Gortat: (Foot) Likely Out Rest Of Season

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Marcin Gortat: Gortat (foot) is likely to miss the rest of the season after an MRI revealed a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot. He will be in a cast for three weeks, the Arizona Republic reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Marcin Gortat could miss rest of the season - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat has a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot and could miss the remainder of the regular season.

Marcin Gortat heard a 'pop' in his foot - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat said he heard a "pop" in his right foot during Wednesday's game against the Raptors.

X-rays negative on Marcin Gortat's foot - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat suffered a right foot injury in the first quarter of Wednesday's game and X-rays were negative, according to the Phoenix broadcast.

Marcin Gortat getting an X-ray on foot - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat suffered a right foot injury in the first quarter of Wednesday's game and went to the locker room.

Mostly NBA Notes: Blake Griffin’s developing game and Bradley Beal’s emergence

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

After being the 100th most valuable fantasy player during the first month of the season, Blake Griffin has ranked 19th ever since, as his value hasn’t been tied to Chris Paul availability (actually if anything he’s been more valuable when CP3 is sidelined, with his assists notably going up). Griffin is on pace to finish with career lows in ppg (18.5) and rpg (8.6) - the latter by a wide margin. But he’s become much more active on the defensive end, averaging 1.4 spg (his previous high was 0.8), and ironically, his drop in Usage Rate has

Mostly NBA Notes: Blake Griffin’s developing game and Bradley Beal’s emergence

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

After being the 100th most valuable fantasy player during the first month of the season, Blake Griffin has ranked 19th ever since, as his value hasn’t been tied to Chris Paul’s availability (actually if anything he’s been more valuable when CP3 is sidelined, with his assists notably going up). Griffin is on pace to finish with career lows in ppg (18.5) and rpg (8.6) - the latter by a wide margin. But he’s become much more active on the defensive end, averaging 1.4 spg (his previous high was 0.8), and ironically, his drop in Usage Rate has helped his fantasy value, as while his free-throw shooting has improved (his 66.2 percent mark is a career best, but he shot 64.2 percent from the

Marcin Gortat disappears in loss to Lakers - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat hit just 2-of-8 shots for four points, seven rebounds and zero blocks in 21 minutes of Tuesday's loss.

Marcin Gortat sent home Thursday with illness - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat arrived at the Suns' facility feeling ill and was sent home by the coaching staff.

Mostly NBA Notes: Ty Lawson bouncing back

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

After shooting 51.5, 50.3 and 48.8 percent from the floor over his first three years in the league, respectively, Ty Lawson’s field goal percentage is just 41.9 so far this season, and his FT% is also a career-low 71.2 (not to mention his 2.6 tpg are a career high). As a result, he went from being the 24th most valuable fantasy asset last year to the 119th this season, as he’s been one of the most disappointing players so far. It hasn’t been all bad, as Lawson’s 6.9 apg and 1.5 spg are both career highs, and he’s played much better of late, averaging 19.4 ppg, 8.6 apg and 1.2 3pt over his past five games, including a Tuesday effort in which he played through an illness that caused him to miss that

Marcin Gortat blocks five with 12 and 14 - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat blocked five shots against the Celtics on Wednesday with 12 points, 14 boards, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes.

Marcin Gortat in danger of being benched? - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

According to beat writer Paul Coro, the Suns could make a change at the starting center position.

Roundball Stew: Turner on a Tear

Source: Rotoworld Basketball Articles

Matt Stroup considers Evan Turner's hot streak and talks Marcin Gortat, Pau Gasol and more in this week's Roundball Stew.

Marcin Gortat turned down extension from Suns - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat turned down an extension offer from the Suns in October.

Day 11: Tim Duncan in “Old Man’s War”

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

Line of the Night: By my count, 26 teams played last night, and while the Honorable Mentions are filled with young and up-n-coming players, one man rose above them all, just as he’s tended to do time and again for the entirety of his career. Tim Duncan (2.89) score 23 points on 9-12 from the field, with 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks in San Antonio’s win over Sacramento. With Oklahoma City weakened and the Lakers floundering (“Hard to sell the story you’re not panicking when you fire your head coach five games in” –

Gortat leaves game after elbow from Scola - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat left Friday's game after taking an elbow from teammate Luis Scola and is questionable to return.

Mostly NBA Notes: A look around the league

Source: Roto Arcade by deldon

Kyle Lowry has been the No. 1 fantasy player in 9-cat leagues over the beginning of the season, thanks to averaging 18.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 6.3 apg, 3.0 spg, 0.5 bpg and 2.0 3pt while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor and 94.4 percent from the charity stripe. And this was with him leaving his last game after just 16 minutes with an ankle injury (that's thankfully not a high-sprain). Lowry's overall numbers from last season are a bit misleading, as he was a top-10 player before a bacterial infection not only cost him a bunch of games but also resulted in him coming off the bench and playing limited minutes when he was able to return. Lowry was also highly productive the year prior after taking over starting duties for the first

Day 9: The First Triple-Double of the Season

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

Line of the Night: There was a triple-double last night (more on that later) but Marcin Gortat’s (2.67) 7 blocked shots to go with 23 points and 10 rebounds in a 117-110 win over the Bobcats was the real fantasy gold last night. I heard rumblings before the season that Gortat might be in for a down year due to the departure of Steve Nash; although what that argument failed to take into account is that Goran Dragic is a pretty damn good PG himself. Gortat – with averages of 16.3 points and 12.5 rebounds – has been great to start the season and should continue to be one of the league’s elite fantasy

Marcin Gortat goes for 23, 10 & 7 blocks - Marcin Gortat | PHO

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Marcin Gortat hit 10-of-14 shots and finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, a steal and seven blocks in Wednesday's win over the Bobcats.

Nikola Vucevic blows up for 18 & 13 vs. Suns - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic thrived against Marcin Gortat and the Suns, posting 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 13 rebounds, three assists and one steal in Orlando's second consecutive victory.

Day 4: The 80 Million Dollar Man

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

Not to take anything away from Mike Conley (see below), but it’s kind of hard not to get on the James Harden/Jeremy Lin Score-A-Thon Bandwagon right now… It’s only 2 games, but that makes the math a lot easier when we figure out that Harden is now averaging 41 Points Per Game.

Line of the Night: Mike Conley (2.37) helped Memphis jump out to an early lead against the Warriors with 21 points (3 threes, 8-8 from the line), 7 assists, and 5 steals.

Honorable Mentions:
James Harden (2.13 – actually third on the night) scored another

Fantasy Basketball Rankings: Top 25 Centers

Source: Fake Teams by sportsbyjack

Marcin Gortat will have to adjust to life without Steve Nash but career numbers last year should give fantasy owners some peace of mind. Marc Gasol looked really good leading Spain to a gold medal game appearance at the Olympics, though a healthy Zach Randolph could cut into his fantasy value.

Players to watch include Brooke Lopez in Brooklyn, who could really produce now that he'll be on a playoff contender. This season could very well

Top 35 Fantasy Centers for the 2012-13 Season

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

The Center position is always as shallow as the inch and a half if water it takes to drown someone and this year is no exception. You only have to look at the fact that we go all the way to #195 in order to corral the Top 35. Yes, only 35 out of the top 195 players are Centers. And if you’ve got 12 teams in your league and have to start 2 Centers, then someone might have to reach as far down as J.J. Hickson at 149 to fill out their roster. (That doesn’t include multi-position eligibility, but it’s always hard to figure out how to include that in Tiered rankings, because different sites allow different players at different positions).

The good news is, it’s usually easier to pick up guys who get decent rebounds and low

How to Build a Fantasy Basketball Team with Good Percentages

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

Effective percentages are something of a geek out stat for me. Because the percentage categories are a little trickier to deal with than the counting categories in H2H and especially roto leagues, I like to calculate something called effective percentages. I’ve discussed this on the site many times before, but the percentage categories are ratio statistics (where made baskets are divided by attempts) and as a result, you simply cannot add them together to create an average. It can also be difficult to compare one player to another because players

Mock Draft Results and Analysis 2012-13

Source: Give Me The Rock by Erik

I know you like mock draft results. Who doesn’t? I promised on on Give Me The Rock’s Facebook page, a little bit too soon, that I would participate in a Yahoo! mock draft and post the results. Three weeks too early, it was tough to get a slot in a mock I was sure would fill up. Maybe it’s my timezone. Whatever. I finally got into one in a draft position that was requested by the most people who replied to the thread, middle position.

As you may or may not know, I’m fond of doing mock drafts. I like to get around 10 or so under my belt before my first real

Top 50 Fantasy Basketball Keepers for 2012

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

This is GMTR’s top 50 long-term keeper list for fantasy basketball keeper leagues. It is based on a player’s estimated fantasy value over the next five seasons. I wrote up the summaries a few games before the end of the season, so the final end of the season stats may differ slightly from the ones presented below.

A quick note about this list. It’s tough enough to predict player value for next week, never mind five years from now. Any long-term keeper list needs to balance experience (and predictability) with youth and potential. Therefore, this list trends more towards experience than one might expect because those are the